￼1. Famine conditions are no longer present in Somalia, according to the latest analysis released
by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit and Famine Early Warning System. This news
is very welcome. The massive scale-up of humanitarian response, strengthened local
partnerships, innovative programming and a better-than-expected harvest have helped improve
the situation and reduce the numbers of people who need life-saving help.

However, the situation remains critical for at least 2.34 million people in Somalia. In southern
parts of the country, 1.7 million people will need food, clean water, shelter and other assistance
just to survive. Mortality rates remain among the highest in the world, while continued conflict
and lack of access to people in need remain major operational challenges.

We must not forget that the progress made is fragile. Without continued and generous support
from the international community, these gains could be reversed. Years of conflict and poor rains
have left millions of Somalis vulnerable. We cannot allow humanitarian efforts to be interrupted
and I urge all involved to minimize the impact of armed conflict on ordinary people. We must all
must keep our attention firmly focused on Somalia and ensure that we do not fail the most
vulnerable.

Even with the good harvest, food stocks are expected to run low by May. While continuing to
provide life-saving help, we also need to focus on building up people's ability to cope better with
future droughts and food crises. We need to restore families’ livelihoods now so that people do
not have to depend on aid. This includes making sure people have seeds and tools before the next
planting season.

We have shown that humanitarian organizations in Somalia can achieve results even in the
most challenging of environments. Vaccination campaigns have reduced measles cases by half;
more than 450,000 children acutely malnourished children received nutrition supplements; and
we tripled the number of people getting food to 2.6 million. The newly-strengthened presence of
the United Nations and other international partners in Mogadishu demonstrates our continued
commitment to the Somali people.